A chara, - Has Ryanair taken leave of its senses? Is it now an English airline rather than an Irish one? Those of us on the Brussels to Dublin flight this morning were informed that prices were being raised by 25 per cent due to a sterling adjustment and that sterling is the airline's reference currency. Thus the Irish drink which cost £2.50 on the way out would now cost £3.13 on the way back. The goods being bought were Irish so they should have been unaffected by the English pound's troubles. We have also been informed, as I write this letter on a route which should only involve Irish pounds and Belgian francs, that the prices in the duty-free magazine are in sterling and that the rate of exchange is £1.25 per pound sterling. This, incidentally, means that the bottle of Jameson available at Dublin Airport's duty-free shop for £9.75 costs £12.50 on Ryanair - a differential of 28 per cent!
The corporate address of Ryanair given in the duty-free magazine is in the Republic of Ireland and thus I assume that the prices therein should be given primarily in Irish pounds. The small print states that "all prices are in sterling". This aspect will be referred to the appropriate regulatory authority here. - Is mise,
Sean F. O Drisceoil
Saoirsinn Na Forbacha, Gaillimh.